Container



Sept. 19, 1939. a. o. CONNER CONTAINER Filed June 24, 1938 INVENTOR Guy 0. Conner Patented Sept. 19, 1939 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE v Guy Conner, Va., to

Wheeling .Steel Corporation, Wheeling, W. Va, a corporation of Delaware Application June 24,1938, Serial No. 215,615 12 Claims. (01. 221-41) This invention relates to containers and more Figure 2 is a partialbottom plan'view of the particularly to containers which are vented to a container shown in Figure l; and I facilitate the egress of air whenthe container I Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view is being filled and the ingress of air when the to enlarged scale showing details of the structure. 5 container is being emptied. The invention is well Referring now .more particularly to the drawadapted for use in connection with shipping coning, there is provideda sheet metal shipping containers for shipping liquids and having a relatainer 2 having the usual outwardly rolled bead tively small inlet and outlet passage. or rim 3 at its open-upper end and provided therei I provide a container having an inlet and outbelow with a strengthening or rolling ring 4. A

let passage, a liquid conduit within said passage, cover I is provided, which may in general be of 1., a portion of said passage outside said conduit usual construction but which is provided with my constituting at least in part a venting passage improved dispensing and venting structure. The for the container, and means communicating cover 5 has'a flat body portion 6 and a rim potwith the venting passage facilitating venting of tion I of generally inverted Ushap'e, such portion the container. Said means preferably comprise a I overlying the-rim 3 of the container, and a. gas- 1'. venting conduitwithin the container communlket I being interposed therebetween. The cover eating with the venting passage. A portion of is a conventional lug cover, being held in place the container preferably extends inwardly thereon the container by lugs 9 formed integrally with of from the inlet and outlet passage and forms the cover and which are turned under the rim 3 the inner end of the venting passage and has an of the container.

opening through which communication is afford- The cover 5 has a sunken portion l0 and a ed between the venting passage and the interior seamed to the cover'at the portion III by a seam of the container. r H is 'an outwardly or upwardly projecting exter- In one of its aspects the invention is well adaptnally threaded neck I! forming an inlet and outed for use in connection with containers having let passage for the container and an inwardly a spout within the inlet and outlet passagemovor downwardly extending annulus ii for a purable between an inward and an outward position pose to be described. A pull' out spout M is prorelatively to the interior of the container, one vided, such spout being guided within the neck I! form of such spout being what is commonly at I! and within the annulus "at". Thespout so termed apull-out" spout. The inwardly extendll is adapted to assume an inward position as a ing portion of the container preferably serves as a shown infull lines in Figure 1 or an outward poguide for the spout as well as serving the venting sition I as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. It function above mentioned. The spout guide may be manually'moved in' and out within the preferably surrounds the spout and, in addition guiding means above mentioned. "A cap ii is 33 to having said inwardly extending portion, also provided for the container and is adapted to be preferably has another portion spaced circumscrewed down over the externally threaded neck ferentially from the inwardly extending portion H, the skirtof the cap being internally threaded terminating in a direction inwardly of the confor this purpose, and the cap contains in its upper tainer at a point nearer the inlet and outlet pasportion a gasket ll adapted when the cap is sage than the first mentioned portion, whereby to screwed down on the neck II to seal the .containa provide for effective venting of the container and er at the sealing portion l9 thereof. avoiding the trapping of air at the top of the The spout H is of generally cylindrical shape container when the container is filled. with an outwardly rolled bead at its upper Other details, objects and advantages of the extremity and an outwardly turned flange 2| at u invention will become apparent as the following its lower extremity. The limit of inward movedescription of a present preferred embodiment ,ment of the spout isdetermined by engagement thereof proceeds. of the bead 20 with the portion i5 of the neck II,

In the accompanying drawing I have shown a. and the limit of outward movement of the spout present preferred embodiment of the invention, is determined by engagement of the flange 2| in which with the portion ii of the annulus H. The spout Figure 1 is a partial central vertical cross-secis preferably made of light gauge sheet metal tional view through a spouted sheet metal shipand at opposed points the metal of the spout is ping container, the cross section also being taken pressed inwardly to-provide opposed venting pascentrally through the inlet and outlet passage sages 22 to allow air to pass between the outside 5 and the spout; and the space between the spout and the interior of the neck i2. This space, shown at 23 in Figure 1, may be termed a venting passage and is disposed within or forms a part of the inlet and outlet passage of the container, which is defined by the neck i2 but is outside the spout or liquid con-' duit M. This venting passage 23 is, as above indicated, connected with the outside by the passages 22 formed at the outside of the spout i4 and which permit the passage of air to and from the outside between the spout and the neck l2.

The annulus l3 has a portion 24 which extends inwardly of the container from the inlet and outlet passage as shown in Figures 1 and 3. In the portion 24 is provided an opening 25 through which passes the end of a vent conduit or tube 26. The vent tube 26 extends thence generally transversely and upwardly within the container and has its opposite end welded or soldered to the cover at 21. 1 Q The lower or inner surface of the annulus i3 inclined with respect to the axis of the spout i4 as indicated by the dotted lines 28 in Figure 1. Thus at the portion of the annulus diametrically opposite the portion 24 the annulus terminates in a direction inwardly of the container at a point nearer the inlet and outlet passage than the portion 24 thereof. This construction of the annulus i3 obviates the trapping of air outside the annulus and against the inside of the top of the cover. Also, as the portion 24 of the annulus i3 is nearest the center of the cover the diametrically opposed portion of the annulus is nearest the cover rim and when contents of the container are being poured out there is a minimum of interference with the flow of such contents into the spout i4, which when the contents are poured out will be in its outward position as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. It will be understood that when pouring out the contentsof the container the container will ordinarily be tilted toward the left viewing Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing.

A hail 29 for manipulating the spout I4 is prvided near the top of the spout, such bail consisting simply of a bent piece of wire having its ends serving as trunnions and passing through holes in the sheet metal spout at the opposed inwardly bent portions 22 thereof.

The container may be filled with the spout i4 in either its inward or its outward position as may be most convenient. It may be filled by'introducing into the top of the spout a filler tube which substantially, closes the spout so that suiiicient venting cannot be had through the spout itself. The introduction of liquid into the container forces the air in the container upwardly where it enters the upper end of the vent tube 26. It passes through the vent tube 26 into the venting passage 23 and thence out through the passages provided by the inwardly bent portions 22 of the spout i4.

When the contents of the container are being poured out the spout l4 will ordinarily occupy its outward position as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The liquid poured out is displaced by air entering the container through the same path as above described through which the air is forced out when the container is filled except that the air passes in-the opposite direction.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the same is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A container having anopening and a neck communicating therewith, a liquid conduit within said neck, and. a venting passage within said neck and outside said conduit, 9. portion of the container extending inwardly thereof from said neck, serving as a guide for said conduit and forming the inner end of said venting passage and having an opening through which communication is afforded between said venting passage and the interior of the container.

2. A container having an opening and a neck communicating therewith, a spout within said neck movable between an inward and an outward position relatively to the interior of the container and a venting passage within said neck and outside said spout, a portion of the container extending inwardly thereof from said neck, serving as a guide for said spout and forming the inner end of said venting passage and having an opening through which communication is afforded between said venting passage and the interior of the container.

3. A container having an inlet and outlet passage, a liquid conduit within said passage, a portion of said passage outside said conduit constituting at least in part a venting passage for the container surrounding said conduit, a portion oi. the container extending inwardly of the container from said inlet and outlet passage and forming the inner end of said venting passage, and a venting conduit within the container communicating with said venting passage adjacent said inner end thereof.

4. A container having an inwardly depressed wall portion and an inlet and outlet passage thereat, a liquid conduit within said passage, a r

portion of said passage outside said conduit constituting at least in part-a venting passage for the container, and a-venting conduit within the container communicating with said venting passage and extending generally upwardly and transversely of the container therefrom to a portion of the container wall removed from said depressed portion.

5. A container having an inlet and outlet pas sage and a spout within said passage movable between an inward and an outward position relatively to the interior of the container, a portion of said passage outside said spout constituting at least in part a venting passage for the container, a portion of the container extending inwardly thereof from said inlet and outlet passage, serv-' ing as a guide for said spout and forming the inner end of said venting passage and having an opening through which communication is afforded between said venting passage and the interior of the container.

6. A container having an inlet and outlet passage, a liquid conduit within said passage, a portion of said passage outside said conduit constituting at least in part a venting passage for the container, and means surrounding said conduit forming the inner end of said venting passage and having a portion extending inwardly of the container from said inlet and outlet passage and having an opening through which communication is afforded between said venting passage and the interior of the container, another portion of said means spaced circumferentially from said first mentioned portion thereof terminating in a direction inwardly of the container at a point nearer said inlet and outlet passage than said first mentioned portion of said means.

7. A container having an inlet and outlet passage, a liquid conduit within said passage, a portion of said passage outside said conduit constituting at least in part a venting passage for the container, means surrounding said conduit forming the inner end of said venting passage and having a portion extending inwardly of the container from said inlet and outlet passage, and a venting conduit communicating with said venting passage at said portion of said means, an-

other portion of said means spaced circumferentially from said first mentioned portion thereof terminating in a direction inwardly of the container at a point nearer said inlet and outlet passage than said first mentioned portion of said means.

8. A container having an inlet and outlet passage, a spout within said passage movable between an inward and an outward position relatively to the interior of the container, a portion of said passage outside said spout constituting at least in part a vent passage for the container, means surrounding said spout and serving as a guide therefor, forming the inner end of said venting passage and having a portion extending inwardly of the container from said inlet and outlet passage, and a venting conduit communicating with said venting passage at said portion of said means, another portion of said means spaced circumferentially from said first mentioned portion thereof terminating in a direction inwardly of the container at a point nearer said inlet and outletpassage than said first mentioned portion of said means.

9. A container having an inlet and outlet passage, a liquid conduit within said passage, a por tion of said passage outside said conduit ccnstituting at least in part a venting passage for the container, and means surrounding said conduit forming the inner end of said venting passage and having a portion extending inwardly of the container from said inlet and outlet passage and having an opening through which communication is afforded between said venting passage and the interior of the container, the surface of said means facing toward the interior of the container being inclined with respect to the axis of said conduit so that another portion of said means there being guide means for the spout adjacent the outer extremity of said inlet and outlet passage, the spout having a depression at its exterior to provide for communication between the venting passage and the outside.

11. A c ntainer having an inlet and outlet passage in its top, a liquid conduit within said passage, a portion of said passage outside said conduit constituting at least in part a venting passage for the container, and a venting conduit within the container communicating with said venting passage at a point removed from the upper surface of the container and extending generally upwardly and transversely of the container therefrom.

12. A container having an inlet and outlet passage in its top and disposed eccentrically thereof, a liquid conduit within said passage, a portion oi said passage outside said conduit constituting at least in part a venting passage for the container, and means surrounding said conduit forming the inner end of said venting passage and having a portion extending inwardly of the container from said inlet and outlet passage and having an' opening through which communication is afforded between said venting passage and the interior of the container, the surface of said means facing toward the interior of the container being inclined to a plane at right angles to the vertical axis of the container and sloping generally upwardly and outwardly toward the nearest point of the rim of the top of the container.

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GUY O. CONNER. 45 

